Insole-type appliance



C. R. BRAASCH INSOLE-TYPE APPLIANCE 'Filed Aug. 18, 1947 www.

/m/ENTOAPA: CL4/PA 'A3'. @AA50/f /QTTOfP/vffy Patented Sept. 6, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT oEFlcE 7 Claims.

This invention relates to corrective and comfort-inducing appliances of insole type susceptible of permanent incorporation in or removable and replaceable association with shoes of ordinary human wear to minimize and correct foot discomfort, and has as an object to provide an improved construction and arrangement of elements constituting such an appliance.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved insole-type appliance effective in use to cushion and minimize the shock eliect of impacts incident to normal walking.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved insole-type appliance employable with corrective and strengthening elect on the human foot arch wherewith associated.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved insole-type appliance characterized by a plurality of support elements disposed and arranged for corrective cooperation with rather than for direct bolstering of arch elements of the human foot.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved insole-type appliance susceptible of convenient and inexpensive development from readily-available materials in a variety of sizes and particular shapes adapted to meet the practical needs of an iniinite range of users, and in such specific arrangement oi constituent elements as may be best suited to the individual requirements of a given user.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement, combination of elements hereinafter set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated by the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a top plan view of a typical removable and replaceable embodiment of the invention as contoured and arranged for use in and with the right foot shoe of a user. Figure 2 is a bottom plan View of the appliance according to Figure l. Figure 3 is a longitudinal section, on an enlarged scale, taken substantially on the indicated line 3 3 of Figure 1. Figure 4 is a cross section, on the same scale as Figure 3, taken substantially on the indicated line 4-4 of Figure l. Figure 5 is a cross section, on the same scale as Figure 3, taken substantially on the indicated line 5--5 of Figure 1.

Cushioning and corrective insoles for either fixed or removable and replaceable association with shoes of human wear are well known in a multiplicity of specific forms, many of which are tarsal arch through engagement with the major upward curvature thereof on the inner side of the foot, and while the appliance of the instant invention falls within the general category of insoles, in that it is adapted for functional engagement between the sole of the foot and the inner face of a shoe sole, it diiers from analogous devices in the character, arrangement, and practical functioning of its elements.

It is common knowledge that insoles are normally provided in pairs whereof the units are formed and shaped for cooperation with the right and left foot shoes of the user; the units being complementary in the arrangement of their elements so as to function identically with relation to the shoe or foot for which designed. Similarly, the instant invention is developed in paired, complementary units, alike save for the contouring and element disposition necessary to adapt them for right and left foot use, and but one of said units, that designed for the right foot, is hence shown in the drawing and hereinafter described.

As illustrated, an upper member l0 and a similar lower member Il are formed from suitable thin, exible, sheet material, such as split leather, to substantially identical size and outline such as will conformably engage within an associated shoe and overlie the shoe sole inner face in a manner to position the insert thereon and retain the appliance against shifting relative to the shoe. The members I!) and I l are superposed in registration with their adjacent inner faces in contact, save as hereinafter specied, and the contacting inner face areas of said members are permanently conjoined, as by means of suitable adhesive, or the like, to unite said members in and as Va. thin, flexible unit of the desired outline. As is readily apparent, the members I0 and ll may be incorporated in the shoe and permanently associated in covering relation with the shoe sole inner face at the time of shoe manufacture, if desired, but when the improved appliance is of removable and replaceable character, as is more usually the case, margins of the saidmembers are skived, or otherwise outwardly tapered in thickness, to lie smoothly, and without abrupt surface plane interruption, against the shoe `sole areas thereby engaged.

As a check to any tendency of the unit heel portion to curl away from the shoe sole when the appliance is in use, and to assist in retaining the unit in the desired relationship within an associated shoe, a strip l2 of thin, relatively stiff material, such as spring steel, is embraced between the designed to directly support and brace the metamember'lll and I l heel portions and extends from the heel end of the unit icmgitudinauy and eentrally thereof to an inner termination at substantially the midlength of the unit; said strip I2 being adhesively retained between the members and thereby secured in the desired relationship therewith. Y

At approximately the midlength of the appliance unit, and hence in position to engage benath the maximum sole instep elevation of the user, a cushion strip i3, of shock-absorbent, highly-resilient material, such as sponge rubber, is disposed transversely of the unit between the members Il) and II and in position to overlie the inner end of the strip I2 and thereby hold the wearers foot away from any contact with the latter at that point. The strip I3 extends the full width of the unit in a uniform thickness sufficient to function as a resilient cushion against which the instep may bear as the metatarsal arch extends and lowers, and is of substantial width in said uniform thickness to provide a pad of considerable area, as distinguished from a ridge or rib.

Approximately centrally of the unit, forwardly of the strip I3, and between the members Il] and II, a somewhat pear-shaped cushion I4 of shockabsorbing, highly-resilient material, conveniently the same as that comprising the strip I3, is adhered to said members with its lesser end adjacent and partially overlying the forward margin of said strip and its greater end directed forwardly of the unit. The cushion I4 is approximately flat, or only slightly convex, on its upper surface engaged against the member I and is both transversely and longitudinally convex on its lower surface in such manner as to outwardly and downwardly project its lower member cover I I as a rounded boss whereof the maximum crown is disposed for engagement directly beneath the hollow of the wearers foot at the forward end of the metatarsal arch between the balls or processes of the foot immediately behind the greater and lesser toes. The cushion I4 maximum thickness, or depth, exceeds the corresponding dimension of any other portion of the unit and is preferably such as to impose a degree of compression on said cushion whenever the appliance is in use and the balls of the foot are in engagement with the shoe and appliance areas on each side of said cushion forward end.

Completing the appliance unit, a cushion strip I5v of shock-absorbent, highly-resilient material, conveniently the same as that from which the strip I3 and cushion I4 are formed, is adhered exteriorly of and to project outwardly from the member I I of the unit adjacent and longitudinally along the unit margin engageable under the outer side of the foot when the appliance is in use. The strip I5 is straight, of a width on the order of one-third the unit width at midlength, has a length several times its width, is of uniform thickness somewhat greater than the strip I 3 thickness save for tapered or beveled ends, and is disposed approximately centrally Vof the unit length to underlie and extend at each end past the position of the adjacent strip I3 end with its thickness hence supplementing that of said strip I 3. Thus, when the appliance is in use, the strip I5 projects downwardly from the outer side of the member II to bear directly against and along the outer margin of the shoe sole inner face beneath the lesser transverse and longitudinal elevation of the users instep arch and resiliently elevates the end of the strip I3 bridged thereby into engagement against said instep arch portion, in which relation the said strip I5 functions to resiliently cushion and minimize shocks and impacts of ambulationl to which the outer margin of the foot may be sub' jected and, with materia1 corrective significance,e elevates and resiliently supports the base, rather' than the crown, of the metatarsal arch in both. the longitudinal and transverse sense and with`- balancing effect resulting from shift of the arch1l base to a more efficient and comfortable bearing? relation beneath its imposed load than normally! obtains when the appliance is absent.

As is readily apparent, the appliance unit in use provides cushioning elements beneath otherwise normally unsupported, load and shock subject portions of the foot effective to resiliently absorb the shocks and impacts of ambulation and minimize the incidence thereof on the balls and arch portions of the foot, with consequent enhancement of walking comfort and lessening of fatigue. Additionally, the disposition and relationship of the cushioning elements results in the provision of a resilient fulcrum between the balls of the foot at the forward end of the metatarsal arch on and about which the foot may rock laterally for load balance and accommodation under the shift-urging influence of the arch base elevators.

Since changes, variations, and modications ini the specific form, construction, and arrangement? of the elements shown and described may be had without departing from the spirit of my invention, I wish to be understood as being limited solely byl the scope of the appended claims, rather than by' any details of the illustrative showing and foregoing description.

I claim as my invention:

l. An insole-type appliance of the character described, comprising a thin, flexible unit contoured for cooperating accommodation and retention within a shoe in overlying relation with the shoe` sole inner face, a cushioning strip of resilient material transversely of the unit midlength, a cushioning pad of resilient materia1 centrally of said unit and closing rearwardly against the forward margin of said strip, and a second cushioning strip of resilient material longitudinally along the unit outer margin in centrally underlying, substantially perpendicular relation with the adjacent end portion of said first strip.

2. An insole-type appliance of the character described, comprising a pair of thin, flexible, coextensive members contoured and conjoined as a unit for cooperating accommodation and retention within a shoe in overlying relation with the shoe sole inner face, a cushioning strip of resilient materia1 transversely of the unit midlength between said members, a cushioning pad of resilient material between said members centrally of said unit and closing rearwardly against the forward margin of said strip, and a second cushioning strip of resilient material longitudinally and exteriorly along the unit outer margin under surface in centrally underlying, substantially perpendicular relation with the adjacent end portion of said first strip.

3. An appliance as set forth in claim 2, wherein the heel portion of the unit is reenforced against curling and displacement by means of a stiiypliant strip adhered to and between the coeX- tensive members centrally and longitudinally of the unit from the heel end and to underlie the transverse cushioning strip at the midlength thereof. l

4. An appliance as set forth in claim 2, wherein said first cushioning strip is a sponge rubber element of uniform thickness, a width several times its thickness, and eXtends from side to side of the unit midlength.

5. An appliance as set forth in claim 2, wherein said cushioning pad is a bulbous sponge rubber element adhered between the unit members with its lesser end directed rearwardly to partially overlie the first cushioning strip midlength and its greater end directed forwardly as a convex boss projected outwardly and downwardly from the unit forward central portion.

6. An appliance as set forth in claim 2, wherein said second cushioning strip is an elongate sponge rubber element of a width less than that of the rst cushioning strip, a thickness greater than that of said rst strip, and bridges the adjacent end of said rst strip to extend longitudinally of the unit beyond the opposite sides of said first strip.

7. In an appliance of the character described having a pair of thin, flexible, coextensive members contoured and conjoined as a unit for cooperating accommodation and retention within REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,426,258 Burns Aug. 15, 1922 1,476,590 Burns Dec. 4, 1923 1,512,302 Noble Oct. 21, 1924 1,675,578 Scholl July 3, 1928 

